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Photos:What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains

Electricity and heat: 30.6% – Burning fossil fuels for electricity and heat is, by far, the main driver of climate change. Emissions from those sectors account for nearly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the World Resources Institute. These activities are the biggest climate villains, statistically speaking.

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Photos:What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains

Transportation: 14.8% – Transportation -- driving, flying and the like -- makes up nearly 15% of global climate-change pollution, according to 2012 data synthesized by WRI. It's the second-most important cause of dangerous global warming.

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Photos:What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains

Manufacturing and construction: 13.3% – Manufacturing and construction are less often discussed than transit, but they contribute nearly as much to climate change: 13.3% of emissions, WRI says. These activities are the third-biggest contributors of heat-trapping emissions.

Other fuel combustion: 8.2% – Burning other types of fuel, including wood, accounts for 8.2% of emissions. Also included in this category are fuels burned in commercial and residential buildings, as well as burning fuel for agriculture and deep-sea fishing.

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Photos:What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains

Industrial processes: 5.8% – Industry adds 5.8% of global carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, according to WRI. Cement and aluminum production, shown here, are among the major contributors.

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Photos:What's causing climate change? Meet the top 10 villains

Deforestation and land use changes: 5.7% – Forests trap carbon, so chopping down rainforests contributes considerably to the climate change problem. Estimates vary, but WRI says deforestation accounts for 5.7% of emissions linked to climate change. Other estimates put the number closer to 20%.

Bunker fuels: 2.2% – Some emissions can't be tied to a particular country. These "bunker fuels," in industry-speak, include ships in international waters as well as international flights, according to the World Resources Institute. They account for 2.2% of climate change emissions.

Knowing which countries and industries contribute to climate change, and in what proportions, is key to understanding how we can fix this problem and avoid 2 degrees Celsius of warming, which is what policymakers regard as the threshold for "dangerous" climate change.

Plus, this story is complicated by the fact that nearly all of us -- certainly those reading this column on a mobile phone or computer -- contribute to climate change in some way.

Below, you'll find a Facebook poll that lists four of my favorite climate villains, all of which came from your suggestions. Pick the one you find most interesting and I'll go out into the world to report on the winner. The poll closes at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 16.

Before you vote, though, you should know some of the basics. In talking to people about climate change this year, I've found there is SO MUCH confusion about what's causing warming and why.

I've met people -- smart people, reasonable people -- who think that climate change is caused by aerosols from hairspray (it isn't) or that it's just part of a natural warming cycle (it's not). Burning fossil fuels for electricity and heat, as well as chopping down rainforests, contributes to climate change.

Here's a breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions by sector, according to 2012 data synthesized by the World Resources Institute. This is kind of a "blame" chart.

On Wednesday, I asked people on Facebook to identify their preferred climate villains. Among the most interesting (and sometimes humorous) responses you submitted: dinosaurs ("they turned into the oil that we want to get at, right?"); millennials ("It is always millennials' fault for everything ..."); parents ("the process of procreation ... results in increases in demand of the earth's resources and is the driving force for most of our planet's woes"). I was mentioned by name ("John Sutter. I bet he's double secret super villain. No doubt."), as was Willis Carrier, the guy who commercialized the modern air conditioner, and James Watt, who invented an efficient steam engine.

You also identified more nebulous bad guys, like apathy, greed, ignorance and consumerism. Geography found its way into the mix, too. China, America and the "3rd world" all made your list.

Some countries are more to blame than others, sure. But it turns out that the most industrialized countries -- the United States, European countries and, increasingly, China and India -- are among the biggest contributors to climate change, because they burn the most fossil fuels.

Here's a list of the top 10 countries in terms of their overall contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions. This list is measured from 1850, the start of the Industrial Revolution, to 2012, and it's based on data synthesized by the World Resources Institute.

All of this data is a rough guide to help you vote. Each of the four topics you suggested for this poll is a worthy candidate. Our diets, our reliance on fossil fuel reserves, our willingness to turn precious forests into farms and our addiction to gas-burning cars and other dirty modes of transit -- all of these contribute to climate change. And each is worth exploring in depth.

I don't want to play the blame game forever. I agree with those of you who said we need to move past finger-pointing and toward solutions. I do think, however, that by exploring who and what's causing climate change, we'll have a better sense of how to solve this urgent problem.